Underworld Water-Serpent Goddess
Dayak · deity · primordial / creation · Recorded classification
The watersnake/lower-world counterpart of Mahatala. No native script (oral/Latin).
Domains
- underworld and primeval waters
- fertility of earth and water
Powers
- dwells in the primeval waters as the great watersnake
- shares in creating the world and the first humans
- rules the underworld and primeval waters as the great water-serpent (Tambon)
Epithets
- Jata The watersnake goddess of the underworld, the female principle, paired with MahatalaHans Schärer, Ngaju Religion (secondary)
Relations
- sibling: Upperworld GodThe Ngaju dual godhead: Jata of the underworld waters is Mahatala's sister and complement (in some accounts consort), together the total godhead.Hans Scharer, Ngaju Religion: The Conception of God among a South Borneo People (trans. Needham, 1963) (secondary)
Sources
- Jata is the female underworld/water deity of the Ngaju Dayak, the great watersnake of the primeval waters who together with the upperworld god Mahatala forms the dual supreme being and shares in creation.: Schärer, Hans (1963/1946). Ngaju Religion. Trans. R. Needham. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff. (secondary); Encyclopedia.com, 'Ngaju Dayak' (Encyclopedia of World Cultures), consulted 2026. (secondary)